Full Text: Park Shi Hoo's Fan Club Responds to Recent News

In the midst of allegations that Actor Park Shi Hoo accepted high end costly gifts from fans, members of his fan club have spoken out against the claims.
Kyunghang was able to obtain a statement posted on Park’s fan club site on the 1st. It was written by the site’s moderator and stated that “Rumors about the necklaces discussed in the media as well as the ‘gift list’ supposedly written by his mother are completely untrue. In regards to Park Shi Hoo having asked for the necklace for his birthday, the fan club explained that the “members all chipped in money that amounted to 7.8 million won. While the actor wanted to donate the money to charity, the members wanted the money used towards a gift and so used it to purchase the necklace.”
As for the bank account in Park’s name, the fan club explained that “Members of the club are selected to handle all finances related to the fan club and are required to report all spendings along with receipts within 2 weeks following any sort of activity.” They added that “It is also untrue that Park Shi Hoo asked us for money.”
The fan club also denied the existence of any ‘gift list’ and supported that “They are solely gifts from the fans and a list does not exist.”
Park is currently under investigation for allegedly raping a 22 year-old celebrity in training (Trainee A). Aside from these allegations, rumors of Park’s representatives demanding gifts from fans spread as well as rumors that a wish list was sent to fans.
Below is the official statement from the fan club:
Hello.
We’re sure you are all very taken back and shocked with everything going on right now.
We completely understand and can sympathize with everyone’s heartache over everything that has happened even before the case has been thoroughly investigated.
We are absolutely shocked and offended by the media’s irresponsibility in publishing news without verifying the details. We also cannot begin to imagine why they would report on events that took place within our fan club without confirming the facts with anyone. When did it become so difficult to depend on an honest and reasonable media outlet. What the fan club and Park Shi Woo expect from the media is not for the actor to get special treatment because he is a celebrity at all. All we ask is that everyone gives Park Shi Hoo a fair chance as a citizen of the Republic of Korea and give the police a chance to make a thorough investigation before making any sort of judgments. We do think that the media should not be allowed to publish any sort of judgments or speculations even in a situation where a decision on the case has not been made yet, much less even started a formal investigation. How far does a paerson need to be pushed in order for the media and anti-fans to be satisfied. We beg you. Please stop here. Actor Park Shi Hoo has said from the beginning that he is innocent and that he will cooperate with the police to prove this. The truth will be revealed soon enough so we ask the media to minimize publishing any articles containing unconfirmed statements, speculations, and offensive information.
Below are details of the ‘gifts’ that has been quickly spreading online. New members most likely had a lot of questions when they first read the articles. People who loved him more than anyone else at one point have turned their backs on him and started to spread terrible rumors about him just as though they have been waiting for this moment all along. As a fan, we can’t help but to feel betrayed and disappointed in the individuals who saved screenshots of internal fan club postings and are now using those against not just the actor but his family members as well.
(A) Luxury brand necklace
Often times fans donate money to provide support to celebrities in their line of work. Every single person cooperates on their own free will and all press conferences, birthday parties, and meet and greets with the fans are completely organized by the fans and the celebrity does not take any part in the planning process. The entire planning and execution is run by the fan club. In 2012 the fans wanted to get Park a gift by pitching in money and ended up collecting a large sum of 7.8 million won. The fan club moderators asked what the money should be used for and Park’s representatives expressed that Park wanted to donate the entire sum to charity. However, the fans wanted to apply it towards a gift that Park could use, especially because the money was collected with that intent, rather than with the purpose of donating it. For this reason the fan club wanted to get him a lasting memorable gift with the money and ended up getting him the necklace. It is completely false that anyone from Park’s company requested for us to get him the necklace.
(B) Personal bank account
To present, the fan club organizers have managed finances related to the fan club with a bank account set up in the fan club’s name. As the fan club grew, in order to be more transparent with our finances, we consulted with the bank and were advised that we should register the organization under a CEO’s name and then create a sub-account with the fan club’s name under the organization’s umbrella account. After that we appointed accountants to oversee and audit the account in order to keep all finances as transparent as possible. To be honest we put a lot of thought into who we should list as the organization’s ‘CEO.’ To the end we had fans who were worried using Park Shi Hoo’s name may cause misunderstandings and also had fans who felt everyone would believe that this was in the best interest of the fan club. And in the end we decided to register the account under the actor’s name. At the time we put a lot of thought into everything and thought we were making the best decision and now feel bad about having this used against the actor. We send our deepest apologies.
We would like to emphasize that immediately upon opening the account, all finances were handed over to the club’s organizers and accountants to maintain transparent financial activity. According to the fan club’s rules, all costs and receipts are required to be submitted within 2 weeks following any activity. This was announced to the club last year and no one expressed any sort of opposition or concerns.
The rumors that the actor asked the fan club for money is completely untrue and is slanderous. We would like to confirm that articles stating such is only creating misunderstandings and were never confirmed with anyone in the fan club prior to publication. They were mere rumors floating around the online community and were started by what looks to be anti-fans. Fans are disappointed and increasingly losing faith in the media that continues to publish unconfirmed stories every day without any sort of evidence to support their claims.
(C) The ‘Gift Lift’ that the family allegedly requested
Every year on the actor’s birthday, the fan club creates an event online to discuss and plan his birthday through an organized meeting where a gift is decided on and then sent to the actor. The birthday presents are always willingly sent to him and a ‘Gift List’ such as the one reported in the media does not exist. Additionally, reports that the actor’s mother generates a list each year and gets involved in the process is completely untrue and a defamation of character.
We would like to emphasize once again that the actor has not once asked us for gifts or money. All decisions regarding gifts are decided on solely by members of the fan club and anything stating otherwise is extremely offensive and hurtful to the faithful fans.
If there is one thing that saddens us about the current charges he is facing it is that the media has been very biased in their reports and that despite the fact that he is also a citizen of this country and has a right to privacy, his rights and reputation have been crushed because of the sole fact that he is a celebrity. In addition to that the negative comments made about him by anti-fans reached a level of cruelty to a point that even the strongest person would not be able to survive it. Moreover, reports are now dragging in the fan club who is standing by him and having us question who will be able to restore the reputation and image of the actor that has been crushed to pieces. How will the fans who’ve prayed for the actor and supported him with a pure heart ever get over the hurt brought on by all this. If a crime was committed Park Shi Hoo will pay for the price for his actions. However in a situation where a formal investigation has barely started yet the media has already reported numerous speculations and dragged his family and devoted fans into the matter, we ask the media to be a bit more understanding moving forward. We beg those posting negative comments and the media. The truth will one day see the light of day. For now please quietly take a step back and watch as the case unfolds.
Thank you,
The organizers of Park Shi Hoo’s Fan Club
[Source: news.khan.co.kr]